Thunderstorm
by Someone So Disgusticified
Summary: This isn’t bad weather, it’s good weather.”  Mai said quietly as a low rumble of thunder could be heard out in the distance, presumably coming towards them.  [Maiko]


Another cold and cloudy day. Just the way she liked it, no sun, no warmth. A bit of wind with some added rain never hurt, in fact, it seemed to have made some days better.

They were still fallowing the Avatar, which had caused them to stop at this port in the first place: because the Avatar had passed through.

Sitting on the cold, hard grass, and looking up at the gray sky which matched the color of the ocean they head just been sailing on. That's how Mai wanted to spend her day not on the ship. Ty Lee had been sitting next to Mai earlier, meditating while she stared blankly at the gray, until she was summoned by Azula to do Agni-knows-what. Zuko often disappeared into the towns, looking for any sign of the Avatar.

The wind howled into the day as Mai tried to look beyond its bleakness. She found it hard to do so, however, because she kept having to brush her hair out of her face as the wind kept changing direction, as if it were confused.

Shivering, Mai half wished she had warn something heavier, until she realized that she enjoyed the icy sea wind slithering up her sleeves and down her neck like a turtle-snake.

Tilting her head upwards to look at more of the dull sky, Mai noticed that one of the gray masses of air and water looked actually like a heart. She silently laughed in her head, knowing full well that if Ty Lee were here, she would have sought that shaped-cloud out quickly, and then would have talked aimlessly about love.

Ty Lee was the type of person that would go after someone, like she did with that Water Tribe boy, and wouldn't have even cared about making a fool of herself.

Mai, on the other hand, much preferred to watch from afar, as she did with Zuko. She was a lot more obvious when she was a child, but because she hadn't been around Zuko in such a long time, she had become a bit more reserved.

She knew Zuko didn't care for her that much, he had thought that when they were younger Mai was weird and had cooties like his sister Azula.

Her eyes starting to dry up and get watery from the wind, Mai blinked, and saw that the heart-shaped cloud was losing it's form, and blowing away along with the others. Sighing, Mai looked for something else to occupy her while the others looked for the Avatar, or any trace of him.

The wind was blowing hard, causing the trees to rustle and the grass to form a sort of ripple affect. There was hardly anyone outside now, most of them had taken to their homes to get away from the bad weather.

"This isn't bad weather, it's good weather." Mai said quietly as a low rumble of thunder could be heard out in the distance, presumably coming towards them.

A thunderstorm would really make things better. Mind you, they wouldn't be able to set sail until it passed, which meant no long boring rides in a cramped ship.

Mai fixed her hair once more, trying to make it so it wouldn't get blown into her face from the wind, but failed to do so when the same pieces had fallen out. She scowled, but let the fact that her hair would look messy pass as she felt the first few raindrops.

The distant roar of thunder grew louder, and more raindrops began to fall. She took a deep breath, and filled her lungs with all of the murkiness of the afternoon, and the salty sea air, not wanting to let it out. But it was much too uncomfortable not to breathe, and so she let it all out, able to see her own breath in the cold.

She tilted her head upwards again, only to get rain in here eyes. Mai took the edge of her sleeve, and rubbed it over her eyes, blinking them too brush back the irritation. In doing so, one of her stilettos fell out, and she picked it up, casually twirling it around between her fingers.

It must have looked a bit odd to any one who passes by. A depressed looking girl sitting on the hard ground, twiddling a silver dagger out in the middle of a thunderstorm. Okay, maybe not _that _odd.

Staring absent-mindedly into the bleakness, watching the rain fall and the thunder growing louder, Mai hadn't noticed that there was someone walking towards her. Well, she chose not to notice that someone was walking towards her. She could here the squelching of the footsteps as this person walked on the mud. Her grip on her stiletto tightened, ready to use it if need be.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and knew exactly who it was.

"What are you doing here?" Mai asked, her face still looking forward.

"Azula sent me for you." He replied, his hand still on her shoulder.

Mai had to restrain herself from looking at the prince, her body warming up to the tips of her fingers just from his slight touch. She closed her eyes, and didn't answer him, but instead let him stand there uncomfortably.

"Are you coming?" He asked, now sounding irritated.

"No." Mai answered, her voice sounding as cold as the icy wind. It was now raining a lot harder, thunder booming right above them, and a flash of lightening finally blazed through the darkened sky.

His hand left her shoulder, leaving Mai with an empty feeling, and he mumbled something to himself as he flopped on the hard, wet ground next to her.

"Azula's going to be mad." He said, turning his gaze to her face.

"What else is new?" Mai kept a straight face, ignoring the pounding of her heart and the longing to look back at him.

"Why are you sitting out here in the rain anyway?" Zuko questioned, wiping rain drops off of his face.

Mai gave in, and looked at Zuko, willing herself to only take a glance. She blinked slowly, and continued to stare on as she was before. She knew Zuko was annoyed by her stubbornness, and that's what made it all fun.

"I'm getting soaked!" Zuko scowled, standing up and wringing out the bottom of his shirt.

"Then leave," Mai said softly, barely loud enough for Zuko to hear.

He stopped dead in his tracks, putting down the bottom of his shirt, leaving it to hang all wrinkled.

"What?"

"If you don't want to be outside in the cold and wet, then go back to Azula and Ty Lee." Mai said again, her voice at its harshest.

Zuko straightened up, and turned his head away from Mai's, even though she wasn't looking at him. "I never said I wanted to leave."

Mai looked up at him, his face a deep shade of puce. She shifted uncomfortably on the hard ground, but smiled slightly none the less. Mai moved her messy hair out of her face once more, sticking to her face because it was wet, contemplating on whether or not she should get up.

He noticed that Mai was still on the ground, and decided to sit back down, though still irritated.

"_Why_ are you sitting out here in the rain?" Zuko asked again. "It's storming outside and yet you're sitting right in the middle of it."

"I enjoy it." Mai sighed, closing her eyes and tilting her head upwards for the third time.

"You enjoy getting wet?"

"Yes." Mai snapped, turning her head back to face him. Torturing him was so much fun. But what Zuko didn't know, was that he was torturing her. He was her childhood crush, and then he was forced to leave the Fire Nation, and now he's back in Mai's presence.

A loud rumble of thunder erupted, startling Mai because she thought the storm had passed, but it was instead getting worse. The wind was picking up speed; so fast that the trees looked like they couldn't hold on. Lightning struck through the sky, lighting up the dark for only a moment, and a crack of thunder could be heard right afterwards.

"We have to get inside!" Zuko yelled over the wind, standing up. What had he been thinking, coming out here?

Mai stood up after Zuko, but didn't move anymore. She wanted to stay outside in the storm, and be swept away by the wind.

"Come on!" Zuko urged, gently pulling Mai away. But she stayed firmly where she was, only taking a few glances at Zuko when he wasn't looking.

He groaned, and grasped her hand roughly, an jerked her away. Mai felt as if her knees were going to give in, and let Zuko whisk her away to wherever they were staying at for the night. She had to run to keep up with him, looking up at the dark murky clouds, wishing she could spend her boring life with them. Her life was gray, as she sometimes chose to put, the occasional excitement like an occasional storm.

Now panting, Zuko and Mai arrived at the place they would be staying at, what looked like just the largest house that this port city had. Opening the door, Zuko loosened his grip on Mai's hand, and led her inside.

"You . . . Could . . . Have died." He panted, looking angry. Both of them were dripping, and Zuko noticed just how cold Mai was. She was shivering, and her lips and hands were a blue-ish color. "You're freezing."

"I'm fine." She said, avoiding his gaze.

"No, you're not. You're shivering, and you just almost killed yourself."

"I wasn't aiming for death." Mai said tonelessly, looking at him sharply.

"Then what were you doing outside in the cold and rain?" Zuko asked sternly.

"I was. . . Thinking." She replied, blushing ever so slightly. "Where are Azula and Ty Lee?"

"Most likely in their rooms." Zuko answered, heating up a pot of tea with his bending.

Mai nodded absent-mindedly, not really paying a whole lot of attention.

"Drink this," Zuko said, handing her a cup of steaming hot tea. Mai took it, and sat down on one of the wooden chairs that was in the small kitchen, staring blankly down at her feet, the thunder fading away outside. It annoyed her that she liked Zuko so much, making things harder to do. It wasn't as bad outside, because Mai had something to keep her occupied, but now it was just awkward.

She felt as if she was going to explode, wanting nothing more than Zuko to know that her silly little crush has evolved into something bigger and the torture it had brought upon her; one of the reasons she had tried to stay outside during the storm. She really did like it when it rained, when the sun didn't shine that one day, when the wind was so strong it could take her away.

Mai looked up, and saw that Zuko was sitting in a chair right in front of her, sipping his own cup of tea. Her head was reeling, full of so many confused thoughts.

"Did you guys find any trace of the Avatar?" Mai asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yes, actually. He's back in Omashu, and we'll be leaving first thing tomorrow." Great, this should be loads of fun.

Mai nodded, and took a small sip of the tea, holding back the gags from the awful taste. He ran a tea shop with his uncle, and yet he was still horrible at making his own.

"Well, we should probably get some rest," Zuko said slowly, getting up and setting down his cup.

"I suppose," Mai sighed, setting hers down next to his.

Across from the small kitchen were four doors, three of them being bedrooms. Mai and Ty Lee always shared, that's just the way things were done.

Rain was still pounding against the stone house, keeping in beat with the thumping of Mai's heart as Zuko looked at her, obviously intrigued by something. This is how she felt every time he looked at her for longer than five seconds, this is what he did to her.

She could feel his body heat as she deliberately stepped forward, mere centimeters from him. Zuko must not have taken note of it, though his arm grazed hers, and he kept it there longer than need be.

It was late into the evening, the rain died down a little but the wind was still howling loudly. Mai greatly enjoyed the cold, but much preferred the warmth that was issuing from her long time love that was standing barely two centimeters away from her.

"Mai!" Ty Lee ran out of her room and bounced joyfully over to Mai and Zuko, not caring nor noticing that she had interrupted something. "Have you been outside during that storm?" Damn her timing.

Mai nodded, quietly fallowing Ty Lee back to their room, refusing herself to look back at Zuko, who was left there alone thoroughly befuddled.

A cold, cloudy day, set the way she like them. Mai's bleak life truly was like gray, only exciting when there was a thunderstorm.


End file.
